Wednesday 21 July 2010

Israeli Army Destroys West Bank Village after Declaring It Military Zone


21/07/2010 Israeli occupation authority’s ongoing violations against the Palestinians are continuing and each day more and more homes are destroyed, more families are dispersed and more lands are confiscated.

The Israeli occupation army's Civil Administration destroyed a Palestinian village Monday morning that had earlier been cleared out when its water supply was cut off.

The Israeli army demolished about 55 structures in the occupied West Bank village of Farasiya, including tents, tin shacks, plastic and straw huts, clay ovens, sheep pens and bathrooms. These structures served the 120 farmers, hired workers and their families who lived in the Jordan Valley village.

The Israeli Civil Administration said they had declared the area a live fire zone and posted eviction orders for 10 families in tents on June 27. "Since no appeal was filed in the following three weeks, and given the danger posed by the location of the tents, they were removed," they said in response.

The villagers made a living by sheep farming and working land owned by families in the town of Tubas. Some of them have been living in Farasiya for decades.

A packaging warehouse that was built together with Agrexco in the late 1970s was also torn down.

Atef Abu al-Rob, a photographer for the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, who arrived at the village hours after the demolition, said mattresses, pipes and broken furniture were lying on the ground in the debris.

Since 1967, Israel has prevented Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley from growing, whether by cutting off their water supply, declaring large areas as live fire zones or banning all construction.

About a year ago the Israeli army set up hundreds of warning signs near Palestinian farming communities, marking them closed military areas.

The families had recently been forced to leave the village when the Israeli authorities cut it off from its water sources, said the popular committees' coordinator in the valley, Fathi Hadirat. The villagers were forbidden to use the water wells the Mekorot Water Company had dug in the area.

Hadirat said a few years ago the Civil Administration destroyed the pipe the villages had laid from a nearby stream used for drinking water and irrigation.

Since then they have been watering the sheep and fields with water unfit for human consumption, pumped from a salt water source. They received drinking water in tanks.

About four months ago the Israeli army confiscated their pumps. On Sunday, 10 families from Bardala, a village north of Farasiya, were given demolition notices.

A farmer who owns 300 sheep was told to leave in 24 hours or his herd would be confiscated.


Israel demolishes two Palestinian houses in Negev

[ 21/07/2010 - 09:47 AM ]

NAZARETH, (PIC)-- Israeli policemen and special security units accompanied municipality teams that demolished Palestinian houses in Beir Hadaj and Ma'arash villages in the Negev, occupied in 1948.

Ibrahim Wakili, the head of the regional council for non-recognized villages, said that the campaign falls in line with the Israeli attempt to destroy Arab homes in the Negev.

He said that Israel's repeated demolition attempts would not be of any use because inhabitants of those villages, which are not recognized by Israel and are not supplied with any municipal services, are adamant on remaining in their homes and land and had rebuilt homes previously destroyed by Israel.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

No comments: